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Five Brilliant Songwriters You’ve Probably Never Heard Of…
whose songs you probably love
Songwriters don’t get enough credit. There, I’ve said it.
More often than not, the actual creators of a song don’t get any public acknowledgement at all. Hit songs are almost always credited to the artist who records and performs them, regardless of whether that performer was responsible for composing any of the music and lyrics or, in many cases, had substantial help from a pro writer in the song’s initial creation.
Fortunately, statutory law entitles songwriters to benefit financially from the sales and broadcasts of the copyrights they create and own. Still, as a professional songwriter myself, I find it frustrating to hear contestants on American Idol and The Voice giving song credit to the performer who made the song famous rather than those who toiled over every note and syllable.
In my opinion, such singing competition shows only reinforce a pervasive myth. After all, there would be no song for the contestant to perform, had the writer or writers not been inspired with an idea and followed through with the process of crafting it into reality.
Case in point:
To the general public (and Google, for that matter), “Wind Beneath My Wings” is a Bette Midler…
